Never Happened?
by kathi-ryn
Summary: Veronica and Lamb run into each other one night at the Neptune Grande and enjoy themselves; the next day they decide to pretend their night together never happened. Will they be able to continue life as though that night never happened? Begins 3.12. I DON'T OWN VERONICA MARS
1. This Never Happened

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars or any of the characters/locations cited. This is purely a work of my imagination.

Spoilers: Begins 3.12 with hints of spoilers through the rest of the show, though AU after Mars, Bars.

* * *

"This is something I'm never getting past."

She would never be able to forgive Logan for what he did in Aspen. It wasn't so much the sex as it was his partner. Madison Sinclair.

_I need a drink _Veronica thought as she entered the elevator at the Neptune Grande descending to the main floor for what she thought to be the last time. She planned to go home, chug the bottle of vodka that she kept hidden in her bedroom, and go to bed; she wanted to put this awful night behind her. While walking toward the exit of the hotel, Veronica decided her need for a drink could not wait. She made a sharp turn into the Grande's bar and placed a drink order.

After knocking back her first shot, Veronica instructed the bartender to keep them coming, and to charge them to Logan's room. The bartender had seen the young couple together in the hotel and followed her instructions.

* * *

It had been a long day in the Balboa County Sheriff's Department. Not only was there pressure from both the media and influential voters to investigate the murder of Dean O'Dell, but two deputies had called in sick and Inga left the station early to take her dogs to the vet. Needless to say, Sheriff Don Lamb was more than relieved when it came time for him to leave for the night.

He was planning to go home, grab a beer and leftover pizza, put his feet up and watch a movie, but abandoned this idea when he passed the Neptune Grande. _I've worked hard today, I deserve a nice drink _Lamb thought as he pulled into the parking deck. He added to himself, _I also wouldn't mind some company…_

Don's "company" for the night was in the form of a petite blonde, who happened to be his adversary, though that did not matter tonight.

* * *

"Deputy!" Veronica greeted the sheriff as he approached the bar, her enthusiasm for his presence indicated that she already had a few drinks under her belt that evening.

"Veronica Mars," Lamb returned, looking her over "Am I to assume that you aged two years since the last time I looked at your license?" Don didn't plan to do anything about Veronica's underage drinking tonight, he just wanted to assert that he wasn't completely oblivious to her illegal activities.

Ignoring his comment about her age, Veronica asked Don "What are you drinking?" and without waiting for his response, she further instructed the bartender "Charge his drinks to the penthouse suite as well." If Logan were going to cause her this much grief tonight, he was going to compensate for it.

_What the Hell _Don thought, he was never one to turn down a free drink, and ordered himself a scotch. _If I am going to spend an evening talking to (or listening to) Veronica Mars, I might as well do it with a drink in my hand._

A few rounds of shots and drunken apologies later, the bartender informed Don and Veronica that it was closing time and offered to call them a cab.

"We don't need a cab, silly," Veronica responded, "Look around, we are in a hotel!" Had Don been thinking clearly, he would have noted that Veronica had consumed one too many drinks that night and she should sleep it off before making any decisions about their sleeping arrangements for the evening. However, Don's ability to think was clouded by alcohol and influenced by the beautiful blonde at his side. Without saying anything, he stumbled, with Veronica, to the main desk and purchased a room for the night. When asked if they wanted a king sized bed or two queens, Don and Veronica responded simultaneously "a king." Though Don wouldn't vocalize this, he would have settled for a roll-away bed if it meant sleeping with Veronica.

* * *

Veronica woke first the next morning, paying no attention to her pounding headache, she quickly gathered her clothes and dressed, making as little noise as possible. While the details of the previous night were blurry, she could recall the gist of it…and he was beginning to wake up too.

"This never happened." she said without so much as a "good morning."

"Understood," he replied. With that, she was out the door.

Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing Don and Veronica, the first three chapters of this story will serve as a prologue (kind of). Hopefully I can update this at least once weekly.


	2. Would You Like a Drink?

Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars.

Veronica did her best to avoid the sheriff's department in the days following her night with Don. It wasn't that she was embarrassed, with her reputation she had gotten over embarrassment long ago; she just didn't feel that it was necessary to see the sheriff anytime soon (if ever again).

* * *

Ever since his night with Veronica, the sight of Keith Mars made Sheriff Lamb fear slightly for his life. Today was no different, but it was not Don's life that Keith came barging into the station seeking, he was promoting his theory on the death of Coach Berry.

While Keith was handing Deputy Sacks a gun, a call came in about a disturbance in the late dean's house. Before the sheriff could quiet the notification, Keith was on his way out the door.

"If it's Botando, I need to be there." Keith explained, "He's unstable and he needs someone to reason with him."

"This is a police matter," Lamb objected, "The sheriff's department will respond to the call and you do not need to come along." With that Lamb was out the door with Keith following behind him. With lights and sirens, Lamb, Sacks and Ramirez proceeded to the O'Dell house to answer the 911 call. Lamb was relieved when he saw Keith turn off the road a few streets short of the O'Dell home.

Upon arrival at the O'Dell home, Lamb spotted Keith's car. _Of course, he knew a shortcut._ Without delay, the sheriff and his deputies drew their weapons and entered the home. After ordering Ramirez to guard the exit, Lamb and Sacks ascended the stairs in time to see Keith enter a room. Out of nowhere, Botando appeared with a baseball bat. Before anyone could respond, the bat collided with Keith's head, sending him to the ground. In the same second, Lamb pulled the trigger and Botando also hit the ground.

"Call an ambulance!" Lamb ordered Sacks while rushing to his predecessor's side as the older man's head continued to bleed.

While Lamb was attempting to apply the appropriate pressure, Keith barely whispered "Tell Veronica I love her…" and then fell unconscious. The paramedics arrived shortly, and loaded Keith and Botando into ambulances.

"Mr. Mars is in critical condition," a paramedic notified the Sheriff, "he may not make it to the hospital." With that news, Lamb sprinted to his cruiser leaving Sacks to accompany Keith to the hospital. Don did not let up on the accelerator until he was on Hearst campus. Having little knowledge of the campus and less knowledge of Veronica's schedule he started looking into all the classrooms for the petite blonde. Lamb was able to find Veronica in the third classroom he interrupted.

"Get your things," Lamb ordered as he approached Veronica's seat in the large lecture hall, "you need to come with me. Now."

Although she was confused, she gathered her thing and stood. The sheriff had a determined look in his eyes, the only other time she had ever seen him like this was the night he released her and Duncan after their break in at the Manning house.

As soon as they were outside of the classroom, in a quiet hallway, Don told Veronica some of the hardest news that he ever had the burden of sharing: "Your father was assaulted today; he is in an ambulance now on his way to the hospital." He paused as Veronica's eyes filled with fear, "The paramedic said his chances were not looking good."

Without another word, Don took Veronica's books and quickly escorted her to his cruiser and they headed toward the hospital. Don ushered Veronica, who was in a trancelike state to the waiting area where Sacks was pacing. A glance between the two men confirmed that there had not been any notification of change in Keith's state since leaving the scene of the crime.

"Would you like a drink?" Sacks offered Veronica after they had been waiting for about an hour, still without news. Veronica did not respond, she just stared at a spot on the floor. Sacks left anyway, in search of a vending machine. He returned a few minutes later with three bottles of water and an assortment of off-brand packaged cookies. Not that they felt like eating, Sacks and Lamb both took a package of cookies, mostly looking for something to do with their hands.

Another hour went by, this time it was Lamb who grew impatient. He walked to the nurses' station, demanding answers and reminding them, several times, that he was the Sheriff. The nurses assured him that they would be informed of Mr. Mars's status when the surgery was over.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity a doctor in scrubs emerged from the "Hospital Personnel Only" doors.

"Is the family of Keith Mars here?" the doctor inquired. This time, it was Veronica who shot up, with just a glimmer of hope in her eyes. As soon as the words "I'm sorry," left the doctor's mouth Veronica completely shut down. Her legs grew week and she started to cry for the first time that day.

Sacks took Veronica to sit down while the doctor explained to Lamb that the blow to the head resulted in irreversible damage, he also assured the sheriff that the hospital staff had done all they could to save Keith's life but they were unsuccessful.

Once outside the hospital, Sacks suggested that Veronica stay with a friend for a few days.

"I'll be fine." Veronica replied between sniffles, she had stopped sobbing but tears were still flowing.

The sheriff agreed with his deputy, "I don't think you should be alone, at least for tonight." Veronica insisted that she would be alright on her own.

Veronica and the sheriff got into his cruiser to go to Veronica's apartment. After a few silent minutes in the car, Veronica turned to Lamb and asked "What happened?"

"A call came in about a disturbance in the O'Dell house. Your father heard the dispatcher and arrived on the crime scene before the department. He said that he was going in to talk to Steve Botando. Your father walked into a bedroom and was attacked from behind by Botando." Lamb recounted quietly, unsure if he should even share this with Veronica.

"What happened to Botando?" Veronica asked, with tears streaming out of her eyes.

"There was a bullet in his chest before your father fell to the ground." Lamb replied, looking at the road straight ahead. They rode in silence the rest of the way to Veronica's apartment.

When they arrived at the complex, Don walked Veronica, who was still in shock, to her apartment. Once inside, Don again tried to convince Veronica to have a friend over for the night.

"Is there anyone I can call?" he offered, "Wallace? Mac?" He suggested the only two friends of Veronica's whose names he knew. After their night together not too long ago, he was pretty sure that she was not seeing Logan Echolls anymore. After she turned down both of his offers, he introduced a final suggestion: "What about Leanne?"

"No." Veronica simply said and walked toward her bedroom.

"Veronica," Lamb stopped the young woman before she reached her bedroom, "I know this goes without saying, but you father loved you. The last thing he said to me before he lost consciousness was to tell you that he loves you."

Veronica could only nod in response before collapsing into the wall, overtaken with tears. Don rushed to her side and supported her as she stood, leaning against him, resting her head on his shoulder. After a few minutes of crying, Veronica was able to vocalize her emotions into three words "I miss him."

Don nodded and smoothed her hair; he guided her to her bed where she lay until she finally fell into a restless sleep. Once Veronica's eyes were closed, he left her room and returned to the living room to make a few phone calls.

His top priority was to build a support system for Veronica, he knew she didn't have a ton of friends but she was close to a few individuals. First he looked up Wallace's address at Hearst followed by Mac. He also called Deputy Sacks to come to Veronica's apartment and wait while she slept. Don did not think Veronica would wake up any time soon, but if she did he did not want her to be alone.

After contacting Wallace and Mac, the sheriff went to the station, although he was sure the department knew what happened at the O'Dell house break in, he wanted to "make it official" and issue a statement as well as file a report.

He knew that once the report had been filed, the media would flock to Veronica, especially with Keith's history with the department and his involvement in the high profile Lilly Kane/Aaron Echolls case. Sure enough, when he arrived at Sunset Cliffs to check on Veronica and relieve Sacks the Channel 5 News van was pulling in to the complex as well.

"Sheriff," called the reporter, "Can we get a statement about the death of Keith Mars?" The sheriff ignored their first request.

"Does your personal relationship with Mr. Mars play into the investigation of his death? It is well known that you and he had disagreements." The reporter questioned again. This time her inquiry warranted a response.

"Keith Mars was an active citizen of Neptune, his death was a tragedy and he will be greatly missed by those that had a chance to know the man." Lamb walked away from the news team without further response and ignored further questions.


	3. Normal Life

(Sadly) I do not own Veronica Mars.

* * *

Keith's funeral was held on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It was small; Veronica did not want to turn her father's death into an attention attracting spectacle. Wallace's family, Mac, and Cliff were in attendance, as was a majority of the Sheriff's department, including Lamb. There were a few old friends that came to Neptune to pay their respects, but the ceremony was very private.

After the service, Veronica returned to her apartment, telling her friends that she needed time alone to think. She had already decided that she would not keep her current residence; she did not need the extra bedroom nor could she afford to live there much longer without her father's income.

The life insurance company had contacted her; her father's policy would cover the remainder of school and living expenses but not much more. Cliff was working with Veronica to contact all of Keith's current clients at Mars Investigations and cancel detective services.

Back at her apartment, Veronica checked her email; it was mostly sympathy greetings and junk mail from school. There was one strange email, from Professor Landry, it read:

_Veronica, I am sorry to hear about your father's passing._

_ I believe I have some good news; you have been selected for the FBI internship this summer. I strongly suggest that you accept the honor, as applicants are not often reselected after turning down the opportunity. This internship is almost a guarantee of a future job with the Bureau. I encourage you to take your time thinking over the offer, but the deadline for acceptance is in one week, as the internship will begin in the week following the completion of your finals. I have attached a link to the program's webpage and your acceptance letter._

_Once again, I am sorry about your father's passing and congratulations on your acceptance._

_Professor Hank Landry_

The FBI internship had been the last thing on her mind, between her father's death and the end of the school year coming up she had been trying to keep up with her school work and prepare for finals while grieving the death of her father.

Veronica knew the only way to keep from breaking down was to stay busy began packing boxes. Most of them contained her father's things that she had no use for…like old clothes and books he probably had never read.

After picking out a few sentimental t shirts, and boxing up the rest for Goodwill, Veronica decided it was time to find something to eat. Upon entering the kitchen, she discovered that she didn't have much of anything—at least nothing that was eatable.

While contemplating consumption of stale lucky charms or attempting to heat up what she thought was week-old ziti, Veronica heard a knock at the door.

She opened the door to find the sheriff, out of uniform, with a bag from Mama Leone's.

"Is that lasagna?" Veronica asked granting Lamb entry into her apartment.

"Yeah," he responded setting the bag down on the counter and emptying its contents onto two plates. "I thought you could use dinner."

"Thanks," Veronica accepted the food and sat at the table next to Don. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Why are you questioning my generosity?" Lamb asked, answering her question with a question, he was uncomfortable with her question because, honestly he didn't know why he was suddenly overcome with kindness—he wasn't usually a sympathetic person.

Twenty minutes later, Veronica was rinsing their plates from dinner and Lamb gave Veronica a straight answer to her earlier question. "It could have just as easily been me that died that day Veronica. Your father wasn't supposed to be there. His death demonstrated how close I am to death on a daily basis and I don't want to die with regrets. I know it sounds cheesy, but Veronica, that's why I am being so nice to you. I was wrong to treat you and your father so poorly for the past four years. I know I can't go back in time but I want to try to make things right."

Veronica finished cleaning up in silence, and then suddenly said "I got into an FBI internship for this summer."

"That's great," Don replied, not knowing what he was expected to say. He knew Veronica's future would include criminal investigation—and although he didn't always like to admit it, he knew that she would be successful.

"When I read the notification email, the first thing I wanted to do was tell my dad," she could barely get the words out. "Objectively I know that this is an excellent opportunity and I should be excited," she continued, "but I can't be happy for myself, not when I know how much my dad would have loved to share this with me."

"You should do it," Don replied, "take the opportunity, if for nothing more than to get out of Neptune for a while." Veronica remained silent, as though she were weighing her options; Lamb continued "Give Neptune some time to move on, when you come back in the fall, things will be less stressful and you will be able to begin to build a normal life."

A tear began to roll down Veronica's cheek, "normal" was the farthest thing from her mind, life would never be "normal" again—not without her father by her side. Don understood; he hadn't had a "normal" childhood; he was born into an abusive family and as an adolescent, moved from foster family to foster family, never really finding a place to belong and live a "normal" life.

* * *

Author's note:

I couldn't make this end the way I wanted it to...but I decided to upload this chapter and start over with the next chapter.

Sorry it took so long to get this up! Between work and summer classes, writing has been pushed to the back burner, hopefully there will be more to come soon!


	4. Intern Affairs

A/N: So this chapter is kind of short, sorry, it includes some very important information though. Almost finished with the next chapter (which is longer)!

Chapter 4: Intern Affairs

Veronica's POV:

My first few weeks at the FBI have been great. Although all I've really done is file papers and fetch coffee, I feel like I have already learned so much from this experience. As much as it pains me to admit this, Lamb was right when he suggested that I spend some time away from Neptune, given the events that occurred late in the spring. No one here looks at me with eyes full of sorrow, because none of my colleagues know about my father's passing. In fact, the only person here who knows about dad is my direct supervisor, Kelly Bright, she was in charge of recruitment and coordinates all of the intern affairs.

_Intern affairs,_ that's an interesting phrase, my previous affairs are the reason why I am waiting outside Kelly's office right now. My careless affairs that resulted in the stick turning pink, my affairs that I can hardly remember, my affairs that are threatening my future career and education.

"Miss Mars," Kelly's voice interrupts my thoughts as she invites me into her office, "I must say I'm a little surprised that you requested this meeting, you seem to have taken to the program naturally, you are definitely one of the top recruits in my time as intern director."

Her praise of my achievements was not making it easier to share my news with her.

"What's on your mind?" Kelly prompted.

"I'm pregnant." I said, there, the cat's out of the bag, she can yell at me for being irresponsible, kick me out of the program and send me back to neptune with a big scarlet A on my chest.

None of that happened, Kelly sat silently for a moment, in shock I presume, before speaking, "Do you wish to continue with the internship?"

That's it? No _pack your bags, your flight leaves in an hour_? "What?" I ask in disbelief. _Of course I want to continue with the program—it's a once in a lifetime opportunity._

"I hope you consider staying for the summer, you are one of the most promising recruits this year and I think you have a future with the FBI, regardless of any family situations. If you would like to continue with the Bureau, consider doing so. I will fully endorse you in any decision you make to stay with the FBI, and I can ensure you that if you so choose, there is a career with the FBI in your future."

I was shocked, "Yes, of course, I would love to stay with the program." MY words were jumbled—I had come into the meeting expecting her internship to be terminated, but was instead practically offered a job...with the FBI!

In the days following their meeting, Kelly helped Veronica set up some doctors appointments to make sure the pregnancy was on track, which it was. The doctor confirmed what Veronica already knew, there was no way this child could be Logan's. The body inside of her had to have been conceived weeks after the last time she and Logan had sex, meaning the father could only be one person. Don Lamb.

As the summer came to a close, Veronica dreaded returning to Neptune. The only reason she had stayed so close to home for college was for her father, but with him gone, she felt no reason to stay. Sure, she had her best friends Mac and Wallace, who would love her no matter what (even after they found about the baby), and she had begun making friends with Parker and Piz (although he was a little too flirtatious), and even Dick wasn't such a...dick. But Neptune was full of memories of her past, with her father. Veronica did not need memories of her father at every turn, with his death still so fresh, she did not want a constant reminder of what used to be. Then there was Lamb, whom she had started to befriend after her dad's death. But she wasn't ready to face him, she was afraid to experience his reaction to the news of the child, would he tell her to "take care of it" because an illegitimate child isn't good for election season? Would he try to build a relationship? She wasn't ready for either situation. Mostly, she did not want to return to the gossip that is Neptune "_poor veronica, her father was just killed" or "who do you think the father is?" or, possibly the worst "definitely her mother's daughter." _She really didn't want or need any of Neptune's attention at this point in her life.

With these concerns in mind, Veronica and Kelly arranged for Veronica to transfer to a college in northern California, far enough from Neptune that no one would know who she was, but close enough for Veronica's close friends to visit.

When the program ended, Veronica returned to California, but instead of Neptune, she went north, to Sacramento. The FBI (Kelly mostly) arranged for Veronica to earn her criminal justice degree, through an accelerated program, which would allow her to graduate in less time, while being able to spend time with her baby.

The remainder of Veronica's pregnancy went smoothly, and she delivered a healthy baby girl, Anna Rose Mars, on January 15th.

Even with Anna, Veronica managed to graduate in 2009, a year early, with the help of online classes and her very reliable neighbor Mrs. Moore, a retired teacher who eagerly watched Anna when Veronica had classes.

A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long, and that this is so short! More to come shortly— Lamb will appear soon!


	5. Welcome to Neptune

Chapter 5: Welcome to Neptune

At eight years old, Anna Mars was finally going to have a sleepover away from home. Well, it wasn't exactly a sleepover, she was spending the night with her neighbor, Mrs. Moore, but for the first time ever, she was going to be away from her mother overnight, like a big girl. And, Mrs. Moore was so much fun, she always had good food at her house, fun games and really good movies (plus, Anna was pretty sure that Mrs. Moore would allow her to stay up late!). Mrs. Moore had become a stand-in grandmother to Anna over the past 8 years. Because she had no family of her own (Mr. Moore had passed away some years earlier, and she had not been able to have children), Mrs. Moore accepted Veronica and Anna into her family as soon as an expecting Veronica moved in next door. She watched Anna from the time she got home form school every day until Veronica came home from work, sometimes very late at night.

Veronica had never left Anna alone overnight before, all of the sleepovers Anna partook in occurred in the Mars apartment. Call her overprotective, but as an FBI agent, Veronica had seen too many tragic cases to allow Anna to be away from her for too long. Veronica finally had a lead on a case she had been working on for years, her suspect looked as though he was going to flee to Canada, and from there to another country, he had well known connections to Cuba. Veronica and her team had to act quickly, even though that meant an overnight trip.

Veronica assured Mrs. Moore and Anna that if they needed anything, at all, to call her, she would have her cell phone at all times. With one last kiss on the head, Veronica said goodbye to her daughter and was off to catch a suspect.

Anna and Mrs. Moore had a wonderful time, they baked cookies, played board games and watched movies until Anna fell asleep. Mrs. Moore decided to let Anna sleep on the couch instead of the guest bedroom, as she did not want to wake the sleeping child. She ensured that the door was locked, turned the lights off and went to bed.

* * *

7:00 the next morning (Mrs. Moore's apartment)

Mrs. Moore had never been a late sleeper, upon waking up that morning, she decided she would prepare a big breakfast for Anna. On her way to the kitchen, Mrs. Moore decided to stop in the living room and check on Anna.

The couch looked like it had been slept in, but it was empty. Mrs. Moore didn't see Anna anywhere in the living room, nor was she in the bathroom or the kitchen, "Anna" Mrs. Moore called, concerned. She tried again, "Anna!" this time it was louder, but she still did not get a response. She went to the door to see if Anna had gone outside, and noticed something strange. The lock did not look quite right. "Anna" Mrs. Moore called once more, sticking her head out the door to look for the child. Still, there was no sign of Anna, fearing the worst, Mrs. Moore dialed 911 to report Anna's disappearance.

The police arrived and confirmed that there had been forced entry into the apartment sometime during the night. After this confirmation, Mrs. Moore called Veronica, who did not answer her phone, forcing Mrs. Moore to leave a message, instructing Veronica to call when she could.

The police took a statement form Mrs. Moore, asking about her relationship with the Mars family, and why anyone would target Anna. As a federal agent, Veronica had made quite a few enemies during her career. The officers called in the FBI and Mrs. Moore's apartment was soon full of officers dusting for fingerprints and collecting other evidence.

* * *

Somewhere on Highway 5, southbound (Anna's POV):

_What is going on? Am I in a car? I'm so tired, and a little dizzy. Where did I fall asleep? Am I in Mrs. Moore's living room? I guess I could open my eyes._ As soon as I opened my eyes, I regretted that decision. I was in the back seat of an old car, being driven by a man I had never seen before. _What is going on? This must be a nightmare, I ate too much junk food last night and fell asleep watching a scary movie!_

Have I been kidnapped, surely not, My mother always warned me about getting into cars with strangers and getting to close to people I didn't know. I hadn't broken any of her rules, the last thing I remember was watching a movie on Mrs. Moore's couch.

The driver of the car notices that I have woken up, for a second he looks nervous, but his emotion quickly fades and he warns me "stay down, and don't try anything." I have never been more scared in my life.

How long have I been gone, has Mrs. Moore noticed that I am missing, does my mom know?

My mom will find me, she is an amazing FBI agent. I start to doze again (I must have been drugged or something), thinking about my mom coming to my rescue.

* * *

Near the California-Oregon boarder (Veronica's POV):

Our mission was successful, we were able to apprehend our suspect just south of Portland, and after a late night/early morning of sorting out paperwork with the local precinct, my team and I were on our way home. I was able to get a little sleep in the car, but I woke up at about 9 in the morning, as the sun was flooding the SUV and interrupting my sleep.

I grab my phone to see if there is anything from Anna or Mrs. Moore, Anna usually sleeps pretty late on the weekend but I just want to check and make sure they haven't had any problems. _Damn Smartphone_ it can do everything imaginable but hold a charge, I wonder how long it has been dead? Finally, I am able to fish my charger out of my purse and plug into the car's outlet. When it eventually turns on, I have about 20 missed calls from Mrs. Moore, beginning to panic, I wonder if Anna had an allergic reaction to something, or if she decided to go for a bike ride and fell. I was not imagining what actually happened when I picked up the phone to return Mrs. Moore's calls.

As soon as the hysterical older woman answered, she she said "She's missing." I didn't pay any attention to anything she said after that. I was in shock, my baby was gone. Still on the line with Mrs. Moore, who was rambling about locking the doors and the FBI dusting for prints and sending out search teams, I yelled at agent Collins who was driving to drive faster, I needed to get back to Sacramento!

We were still four hours outside of Sacramento but I was busy making phone calls to every connection I had in the state of California. I wanted my daughter to be found!

The FBI wanted to keep Anna's disappearance out of the news because of my position. They feared that releasing her identity as the daughter of a Federal Agent would harm her more than help the search for her, so an Amber Alert was not issued. Instead, federal agents were scouring the state of california and surrounding areas searching for a trace of Anna. Border patrol had been contacted and they were searching every vehicle for signs of Anna.

Collins had us back to Sacramento in record time. I was filled in on the efforts to find my daughter, but because she was my daughter, I was not allowed to help at all. Being the restless person that I am, I went to my personal car and began to drive. I didn't know where I was going, but it felt a lot better than sitting around the office or my apartment not being able to do anything.

* * *

Anna's POV:

I began to wake up again as the car I was in exited the highway. I was careful to not let the driver know I was awake, afraid that he would yell at me or drug me more. From my position in the back seat, I noticed a sign "Welcome to Neptune, California!" That's a good sign, at least I am still in California.

The driver pulled into a gas station and turned off the engine. He glanced back to me and assumed I was still asleep. He got out of the car to go into the station, probably to pay cash for the gas and maybe get something to eat, come to think of it, I was very hungry. I remember one of my mother's lessons about what to do if you are taken: don't stay quiet, get to a public place and get lots of attention. A near empty gas station was not exactly the most populated place, but I began to look for someone to help me.

What seemed like an eternity later, but was really probably less than a minute later, a police car turned into the gas station. As soon at the police car pulled up to a pump, I jumped out of the back of the car I was in and ran toward the police car screaming for help. The driver looked startled as I approached, but that did not stop me from clinging to his leg as I began to cry and tell him what happened to me.

* * *

Lamb's POV (finally!):

It had been a long morning, Sacks and I were finishing up a patrol shift, which I rarely did but there had been a missing child report overnight and we needed every officer available on duty. I pulled into a gas station to fill up my squad car for the day and to have Sacks get us a couple of cups of coffee.

As soon as I exited the car, I heard screaming coming from one of the pumps, my first instinct was to draw my weapon, then I noticed the noise coming from a little girl, who was running toward me very quickly.

"HE TOOK ME" the girl started, she had a death grip on my leg and tears were flowing from her eyes. Those eyes, they looked very familiar, in fact, she looked very familiar in general. She continued to cry and did not loosen her grip on my leg. Unsure of what to do—I've never been much for children—I squatted down to her eye level to attempt to comfort her. "Shhh, It's ok now. You are safe, I'm Sheriff Lamb and this is Deputy Sacks. What's your name?"

"Anna," She replied through her tears, "Anna Rose Mars."

_Holy Shit_

"What's your mom's name?" I asked, although I was already sure of the answer.

"Veronica Mars" She replied, "She's an FBI agent." Without another thought, I pulled the small girl into my arms and let her cry on my shoulder.

* * *

A/N: Yay! Lamb's back, and he will talk to Veronica in the next chapter as well as spend some time with Anna. I hope to update soon!

Also, I changed the rating to M because Lamb swears and probably will in upcoming chapters, I do not plan to put any other kind of explicit content in the story though.


	6. Pistachio Ice Cream

Disclaimer: All I own are DVDs, everything belongs to Rob.

A/N- Sorry it took so long, but this one is longer than my usual updates. Hopefully more to come soon.

Sacks POV:

"_Veronica Mars."_ As soon as the name left her mouth, I saw a side of the sheriff that was reserved for the rarest of occasions, in fact, the only time I can remember him genuinely comforting someone was when Veronica found out that her father had died.

While Lamb was attempting to console the young girl (though he seemed to be a little shaken up himself), I realized there was work to be done. The kidnapper was still in the vicinity, he had yet to exit the convince store and seemed not to notice our presence. I radioed for backup, requesting all available units (in case he attempts to run) and rattled off a description of the offender's vehicle.

With Lamb still busy with Anna, I entered the store alone, confident that if I could approach the subject without his knowledge, I would be able to make an easy arrest. Entering the store I noticed the only patron was at the register, conveniently with his back to the door. Drawing my gun, I slowly approached and yelled "Hands where I can see them!" momentarily stunned, the suspect turned to look at me and attempted to flee. Although he was quick, he was not quick enough; within a second I had him pinned to a magazine rack with a pair of handcuffs slapped on his wrists.

Deputies Davis and Simpson arrived on the scene as I escorted the felon from the store. The deputies helped me shove the arrested man into a squad car (and by shove, there was excessive roughness, he tried to kidnap Veronica Mars' daughter for Christ's sake!).

Davis and Simpson drove the kidnapper back to the station for holding while I notified the FBI that we had apprehended the man who kidnapped Veronica Mars' daughter. It took some convincing to get the agent with whom I spoke to believe me, which is understandable, given the colorful history of Neptune's law enforcement. The Agent agreed to send a team to the station to take over the case, as the kidnapping was possibly related to Veronica's position in the FBI. He also informed me that because the suspect was apprehended in Balboa County all questioning and arrests would need to occur in Balboa County.

"Sheriff, the FBI said we need to keep her here until arrests are made," told my boss, although I wasn't sure he was listening to me—he was still concerned with Anna's mental state. "Federal Agents are on their way to assess the situation, and will probably take over the case."

Lamb's POV:

_Sacks just said we have to keep Anna in our custody until federal agents arrive. How long will that take? What about Veronica? She must be worried sick! I should call her. _As I pull out my phone, I realize that I don't have Veronica's phone number, she must have changed it a dozen times since leaving Neptune, I couldn't keep up. "Anna, do you know your mom's phone number?" I ask quietly, the child has begun to calm down and I don't want to do anything to upset her, "We should call her and let her know where you are."

"Its 415 555 9206" Anna rattled off without hesitating, "My mom made me learn it as soon as I could talk."

As I dialed, I couldn't help but think that I hadn't talked to Veronica in years it had been close to a decade since I had heard from her. What am I going to say? What is she going to say? Why hasn't she called me, I thought we were beginning to become friends again, then she left, and never came back. I was so lost in my train of thought that I almost didn't notice when she answered the phone.

"_Agent Mars, FBI_" She didn't sound too flustered with her daughter's disappearance, but I know Veronica, she will always put up a tough exterior, even when she is completely falling apart inside.

"Anna's alright," were the first words out of my mouth, that's all Veronica really wanted to hear, "She's in Neptune."

"_Don_?"

"She's right next to me, do you want to talk to her?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Without waiting for a response from Veronica, I handed my phone to Anna, who was still crying silently, still visibly shaken from the morning's events.

"Mom!" Anna cried out as soon as she had the phone next to her ear. "I was so scared! I miss you so much!" She talked at he mother nonstop; I doubt that Veronica was able to get a word in. Anna slowed down and they talked over the phone for a few minutes, Veronica was probably trying to reassure herself, as well as her daughter that everything was going to be alright. "She wants to talk to you," Anna extended the phone to me.

"Veronica" I answered the phone.

"Don't let her out of your sight" she said, without any pleasantries, "today has been the scariest day of my life, and I will not lose her again."

"Ok," did I really have a choice of how to respond?

"I'm on my way, depending on traffic it could take me upwards of 8 hours. Don, look out for Anna, she's all I have."

"I will, I'll see you sometime tonight." With that she hung up, I could have sworn I heard her say something as she pressed end, it sounded like "I'm sorry," but I could be mistaken, what does she have to be sorry about?

"Alright," I said as I turned to Anna, "It's going to take your mom a few hours to get here, how about we get some ice cream."

While I was on the phone with Veronica more deputies arrived on the scene, mostly to secure and maintain evidence and the crime scene until federal authorities could arrive. Anna didn't need to be around all of this commotion, and I didn't want to deal with the turf battle that was sure to ensue when FBI arrived, all I cared about was that Anna was safe with her mother.

As we pulled into Amy's ice cream parlor, the tears on Anna's face dried up. When I helped her out of the cruiser, she even began to smile, she is definitely her mother's daughter, ice cream can fix anything.

"What flavor are you going to get?" I asked Anna, realizing that was the first light-hearted thing I said to her. "You can get anything you want."

"Anything?" She asked, and I nodded, "Then I will have three scoops of pistachio ice cream in a cone, with whipped cream and a cherry. " Her order not only surprised me, but also the woman behind the counter who smiled and began to scoop a mountain of ice cream onto a cone for Anna.

"I'll have a single scoop of pistachio, in a cone" I placed my order and moved to the cash register to pay.

"You like pistachio too?" Anna asked, excitedly, "my mom hates it, but it's my favorite."

"Yep. It's my favorite flavor, too." I paid the attendant and she handed over our ice creams. Looking at Anna hold her cone, I came to the conclusion that there was no way she would be able to eat all of the ice cream in her hand.

Half an hour and about ten napkins later Anna proved me wrong as she finished off her cone without slowing down. She wiped off her face and hands, which were covered with melted ice cream.

With all of the ice cream finished, I decided we should probably go to the station; it was a safe place to keep Anna until Veronica showed up and I had a mountain of paperwork to get through.

The car ride from Amy's to the Station was much more enjoyable, Anna asked about what every button in my cruiser did, I even let her play with the lights when we were alone on the road.

"Hey," Anna pointed to a picture as we entered the sheriff's department "that's my grandpa." Ah, yes, the 18x24 photo of Keith that hung in the entrance to the Sheriff Keith Mars Memorial Sheriff's Department. The sheriff's department (myself included) pushed to have Keith recognized for the sacrifice he made, protecting the common good. On the first anniversary of his death, the sheriff's department wing of the courthouse was dedicated to Keith, for his service to Neptune, both with and without a badge.

"Yes it is" I replied to the child, clearly she knew who her grandfather was, through I am not sure if she knows exactly how he died. "He was a good man."

"You knew Grandpa Keith?" She asked, suddenly enthralled with my relationship to her diseased grandfather.

"I did," I replied, not wanting to go into detail about our relationship for the last few years of his life, "he was sheriff here before I was."

"Do you know my mom too?" She asked, for an eight year old, she is pretty bright.

"The first time I met your mom, she was about your age, maybe a couple of years older" I really did not want to describe my relationship with Anna's mother to her, "today was the first time I talked to her since before you were born."

"Why?" Of course she needs to question everything, damn her inquisitive genes.

"I don't really know," which was kind of an honest answer, at least until I met Anna today, I can assume her lack of contact has something to do with not wanting all of Neptune to know she was pregnant, "she probably left because the FBI wanted her and she wanted to work for the FBI." That was a pretty good answer, and mostly honest—to my knowledge. And it seemed to satisfy Anna's curiosity, at least temporarily.

I could feel all of the eyes in the building on me, or more likely my blonde companion, as we walked past Inga's desk to my office, where I authoritatively closed the door, though not quite slamming it.

As soon as the door was closed, it was opened, by Inga, who all but ran in to see Anna. "Oh my goodness! She's gorgeous!" Inga exclaimed, hugging a startled Anna, "You look just like your mother!" "Sheriff," she said turning to me, though still next to Anna, "Isn't she beautiful, just like her mother?"

"Yes," I replied sincerely, then immediately regretted my choice of words and sincerity level. Hopefully Inga didn't notice my willingness to refer to Veronica as beautiful. Who am I kidding, of course she noticed. There was a twinkle in Inga's eye, she knew exactly what I said, and probably realized my feelings better than I did myself.

"Let me know, if you need anything!" She said and left, "I will be right outside."

The door was almost shut when she stuck her head back in, "Anna, is your mother coming here?" Anna nodded yes and Inga turned to me and winked. With that she was out the door.

* * *

Outside of Lamb's door:

"I'm in," Inga said, closing the door to Lamb's office, "put me down for $100." Sacks looked at her like she was crazy, he she was talking about the bet on Anna's paternity. The top contender in the Sheriff's department pool was obviously Logan Echolls, given Anna's date of birth, he was very likely the father, a few deputies who had been with the department since Veronica was around put money on Duncan Kane, there were a few bets for Leo D' Amato and even a bet toward Vinnie Van Lowe. None of the other bets had gone over $20. Inga's bet was conditional; she would not reveal her pick until paternity was confirmed, either by Veronica or an appearance of the father himself. She had written a name on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope, paper clipped to her $100 bill.

"Ok," Sacks confirmed, "Inga's in for $100 toward a mystery man."

Inside Lamb's office:

"So, Anna, what do you want to do?" Lamb really needed to get through the paperwork that had been piling up on his desk all morning, but he didn't want Anna to be bored out of her mind either. "I have a couple of movies you can watch, or you can flip around on the TV, or…I have an idea." Lamb went to his cabinet, and took a couple of photo albums off the bottom shelf, "you can look at these, they are mostly of your mom and her friends." Keith had kept photo albums in his office when he was Sheriff and didn't take them with him when Lamb took his position.

"Cool" was all Anna replied before diving into the first album. For the next hour, Anna looked through the pictures and asked the sheriff who her mom's friends were. She already knew who Lily was because her mom had a photo of her at home. Random observations, like "mom played soccer?" made Lamb and Anna laugh in memory and realization.

"Anna," Lamb asked, looking up from his desk to the girl enthralled with pictures of her mother's former life, "do you want something to eat?" They had had ice cream before lunchtime and it was now early afternoon and Don was starting to get hungry..

"Sure," Anna replied, "Can we go somewhere, I'm tired of sitting in this office."

"As you wish," Lamb responded, to be honest, he was tired of sitting at his desk too, he could use a mid afternoon break, "Pizza or tacos?"

Anna decided on pizza and Lamb and Anna walked the short distance to a local pizza parlor, Anna and Don split a large pepperoni pizza, with a couple of slices left over, Lamb assumed it would be his dinner and they began walking back to the sheriff's department.

When they reentered the sheriff's department, Anna and Lamb were greeted by a handful of FBI agents, presumably assigned to the case. "There she is" one called out, "Anna Mars, My name is Agent Jones, I need to ask you a couple of questions."

"umm, ok" Anna didn't know who to reply, the man that approached her was big and did not look very friendly.

"Sheriff Lamb, I presume," Agent Jones extended his hand to Lamb, "Do you have somewhere I can speak with Miss Mars privately"

"WE can go into this interrogation room, Lamb said, leading Anna into the room and taking a seat next to her." He had promised Veronica that he would not let Anna out of her sight and he intended to uphold his promise.

Agent Jones was clearly not ok with Lamb's presence but decided not to do anything about it, at least not for now. "Anna, Can you tell me your full name?" The first question was easy enough, she responded. The Second question was also relatively painless, Agent Jones asked for her date of birth. Lamb couldn't help but doing the math in his head. He hadn't considered that possibility until now, but he put it out of his mind, Logan Echolls made the most since with regards to paternity, they were in a relationship for a long while preceding Anna's conception. Speaking of Anna's conception, Agent Jones's third question was not as simple as the first two, he demanded to know who her father was. Anna replied,

"I don't know" She looked down at her hands, clearly upset by the question, "It's always been me and my mom." Agent Jones did not like that answer and decided to press farther, looking for a concrete answer. It was clear Anna did not know who half of her DNA belonged to and the question was upsetting her. Agent Jones asked the question a third time and Lamb had enough. "We're done, you need to wait for her mother before you ask any more questions." With that, he led Anna out of interrogation and back into his office. She quietly sat down on the couch and decided to watch TV. Lamb wanted to say something comforting to the visible upset child, but did not know what would help in this situation. He was just relieved that Agent Jones did not put up a fight when he demanded to end the interview. Lamb's window of opportunity to comfort the child was cut short because he looked up from his desk to discover Anna asleep in her chair. He shifted her into a more comfortable position and draped his jacket over her because he didn't have a blanket in the office. He put a sign on the door that said "QUIET" in all caps and gently shut the door. Anna had had a rough day and she really needed a decent sleep.

How long had it been since Anna fell asleep? A couple of minutes? A few hours? Don had no idea and it didn't really matter, he had managed to finish off all of the paperwork on his desk and get a head start on tomorrow's work (it was definitely going to be a hectic day with the kidnapping investigation going on in his office). He looked at Anna asleep in the oversized chair; she was so peaceful, and oddly familiar. She was a spitting image of her mother, but there was something else about her, an indescribable familiarity. Don smiled as the girl shifted in her sleep, he glanced at his watch, he was beginning to get tired—it had, after all been a very long day. It was nearly 7 in the evening, no wonder he was tired, he never worked this late. He began to wonder when Veronica would arrive, he figured she would be here by now.

As if on queue, there was a light knock on the door and it opened slowly.


End file.
